Clare Swirski is Co-Head of the firm’s UK/European insurance practice. Her practice focuses on advising insurers and other financial institutions on a range of transactional and regulatory matters.
Ms. Swirski has over 20 years' experience advising financial institutions on the full range of corporate matters, including share and business acquisitions, joint ventures, reinsurance, longevity transactions, distribution agreements and group reorganisations.
Ms. Swirski has also advised multinational insurers on key regulatory developments impacting the sector, including general governance issues, SIMR, with-profits regulation, Solvency II and Brexit issues.
Ms. Swirski has played an active role in the development of the regulatory environment for insurers in the UK. She has previously liaised with HM Treasury on changes to Part VII legislation and was a member of a group of City lawyers responding to EIOPA Solvency II consultations. She is also a member of the insurance subgroup of the Financial Markets Law Committee, which considers legal and regulatory areas of uncertainty in the market.
Ms. Swirski has been ranked by Chambers UK and The Legal 500 UK as a Band 1 corporate insurance lawyer for a number of years, with praise for her ability to “steer through complexity” and “come up with creative solutions to interesting problems.” In Chambers UK (2025), she is described as “great at handling very complicated issues in a calm and commercial manner ” and praised for having “very strong knowledge of regulatory regimes and industry trends.” She has also received praise from clients for being as “excellent from a technical perspective as well as being extremely calm with a good commercial context” and is said to be “one of the best technical insurance lawyers in London, if not globally. She is incredibly experienced, very commercially minded and she excels at boiling down very detailed, complicated questions into simple points for the client.” She is also said to have a “very detailed grasp of all of the relevant legislation” and an ability to provide “sharp insights into its ramifications and application.” Clients say she is “very proactive, responsive, and has a good problem-solving attitude.” In The Legal 500 UK (2025), where she is listed in its Hall of Fame and recommended for both her corporate insurance and regulatory practice, she is lauded for having “an exceptional eye for detail, whilst maintaining a calm and measured approach throughout ” and being “highly responsive, amiable and knowledgeable.” In previous editions of the guide, she has also been described as “an expert in technical insurance regulation,” with clients noting that she has a “very detailed grasp of all of the relevant legislation and provides sharp insights into its ramifications and application combined with a practical and commercial approach.” Described as the “go-to insurance business transfer lawyer,” she is said to be “focused and responsive” and “a go-to person on Solvency II questions —she really understands the business implications.” She is also ranked by Best Lawyers and Who’s Who Legal as amongst the leading insurance practitioners in the UK.
Ms. Swirski is the author or co-author of a number of articles, including “ESG considerations in the insurance industry: Q&A,” Practical Law (October, 2023); “In a tough transactional environment, where are the green shoots? Looking back,” The Insurer (July, 2023); “In a tough transactional environment, where are the green shoots? Looking forward,” The Insurer (July, 2023); “A new wave of P&C insurers,” The Insurer (January, 2023); “Insurance Industry’s Allure Continues to Attract PE,” Private Equity International (September, 2022); “Insurance deals and the heightened regulatory headwind,” Insurance Day (July, 2022) and “What Growing Focus On ESG Means For Insurers,” Law360 (January, 2021).
Ms. Swirski has also co-authored a number of chapters in industry handbooks. These include the UK chapter in the Insurance & Reinsurance Practice Guide, published by Chambers & Partners, the UK chapter in the Insurance & Reinsurance guide published by Lexology Getting the Deal Through, and the UK chapter in the Insurance and Reinsurance guide as part of the PLC Global Guides series.
Ms. Swirski received her B.Sc. Hons followed by a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics in 1986 from the University of Liverpool, followed by a Fogarty fellowship for post-doctoral work at Stanford University Medical Center, California. She became a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England & Wales in 1994.